About Vinegar... (see the Basic Diet Choice List made available through CSA)

[Guest guest]

This is taken from the Celiac Sprue Association's website at www.csaceliacs.org

This list is specifically from this link http://www.csaceliacs.org/gluten_choices.php and it briefly talks about vinegars at the bottom.

Gluten-Free Diet: Basic Diet Choices

Begin your diet with your favorite naturally gluten-free foods. Introduce additional gluten-free diet choices to build a personalized healthy diet. Discuss choices with your physician or dietitian who understand your personal dietary needs.

Alcoholic Beverages

FOUNDATION STAGE: Wine and brandies without preservatives and added dyes; potato vodka; most rums and tequila. EXPANDING STAGE: Distilled liquors known to be from wheat, barley or rye are categorized as “rendered gluten-free through processing.” If the product is from a gluten source, it does not conform to the diet of those who choose a zero tolerance level gluten-free diet.

Breads

FOUNDATION STAGE: Commercial gluten-free breads and mixes with easy to digest base ingredients such as rice flours, white or brown, arrowroot, potato, tapioca. EXPANDING STAGE: As tolerated, for variety and increased nutrients, use soybean (soya), bean, pea, flax, cottonseed, corn, sorghum, nut or other 100% gluten-free labeled flours.

Cereals

FOUNDATION STAGE: Begin with gluten-free cereal grains already present in one’s diet. Hot cereals made from corn meal; cream of rice; hominy; rice; mixtures of gluten-free cereals from pure sources without malt.

Cheeses

All aged hard cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss, Edam, and Parmesan. Check ingredient list on cottage cheese, cream cheese, and all pasteurized, processed cheese; avoid cheeses with vegetable gum, food starch and preservatives not defined by a gluten-free source.

Crackers and Snack Foods

Rice wafers, potato based, cornstarch based, pure cornmeal chips and tortillas; popcorn; vegetable and gluten-free nut based chips.

Desserts

Gelatin desserts; selected pudding mixes; ice cream, sherbet or yogurt, without suspect additives, wheat flour or gluten stabilizers; custard; junket; homemade or commercial desserts from gluten-free ingredients.

Drinks and Juices

Fresh brewed coffee, tea, chocolate made with cocoa, fruit juices, carbonated drinks and some nut and rice drinks. Instant or processed drinks without malt, additives, stabilizers, or emulsifiers added that must be evaluated. Only a few root beers qualify.

Eggs and Egg Substitutes

FOUNDATION STAGE: Fresh egg products and pure egg substitutes. EXPANDING STAGE: Egg substitutes with additives, stabilizers, or emulsifiers added must be evaluated.

Fats and Oils

FOUNDATION STAGE: Begin with those already in your diet. Olive oils, soy, safflower, grapeseed, sunflower, corn oils, canola, margarines, butter, lard, cream, cottonseed, pure mayonnaise, peanut butters, and hydrogenated soy oils. Evaluate low fat combinations.

Flours

FOUNDATION STAGE: Use gluten-free flours and starches from foods already common in one’s diet. EXPANDING STAGE: Add any combination from pure sources that were not common in diet prior to diagnosis: Montina, arrowroot starch, corn flour, cornmeal, corn starch, potato flour, potato starch, rice bran, rice flour, rice polish, sweet rice flour (glutinous), soy flour, tapioca flour, tapioca starch, food grade sorghum, acceptable edible seed flours, such as flax seed; nut flours, such as chestnut; other legume and root based flours. Many commercial blends are available.

Fruits

Use fresh, frozen, dried or canned fruits. Some contain thickeners or additives or preservatives to evaluate.

Grains and grain substitutes[some seeds such as wheat, barley, rye, triticale, spelt, oats, kamut are not considered gluten-free]

FOUNDATION STAGE: Any gluten-free grains in diet prior to diagnosis. Start with brown rice; rice, corn and popcorn, tapioca, sorghum, flax and wild rice, yams, potatoes, sweet potatoes, soy. EXPANDING STAGE: Gluten-free seed flours, Montina, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, tef and other less common cereals not eaten before diagnosis. Check for pure sources. U.S. products do not contain wheat starch in gluten-free formulas.

Meats or Meat Substitutes

Meats, fish, minimally processed poultry and eggs prepared without the non-allowed grains. Evaluate all marinades and coatings. Evaluate wieners and sausages for ingredients that may contain wheat or other cereals. Choose bacteria-ripened cheeses and processed cheeses without a gluten stabilizer; cottage cheese and cream cheese with gluten-free vegetable gums or additives.

Miscellaneous

Herbs; spices; nuts; coconut; chocolate; pure cocoa; flavorings--some may contain alcohol of undefined source. Evaluate these products for an individual preference basis. Shop for well known brand names.

Potatoes, Pasta or Starches

Potatoes and sweet potatoes; yams; hominy; rice and wild rice; gluten-free pastas; look for oriental rice noodles made from rice, or bean noodles made from beans, as they can often be made from wheat. NOTE: In the U.S. the single word “starch” on a food label “is … made from corn; or the word cornstarch may be used.” (Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Title 21, Sec. 578.100 Starches, Oct. 1, 1980)

Salad Dressings

FOUNDATION STAGE: Simple dressings such as vegetable oil and wine vinegar or vegetable oil and lemon juice. EXPANDING STAGE: Expand choices; evaluate based upon personal tastes and tolerances. Grain vinegar may be from wheat. Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] allows mixtures of vinegar to be labeled vinegar for salad dressings.

Soups

Label of ingredients should be complete, verify gluten-free status with manufacturer.

Soy Sauce & Teriyaki Sauce

Read ingredient label. These may contain wheat.

Sweets

Sugar; honey; maple syrup, non-buttered syrup; molasses; most jellies and jams; plain hard candy; marshmallows; gumdrops; and homemade or commercial candies made with allowed ingredients.

Vegetables

Fresh, frozen, dried or canned unless they contain thickening agents to evaluate. Canned products may contain emulsifiers, preservatives, stabilizers, and food starch not defined by source to evaluate.

Vinegars

FOUNDATION STAGE: Balsamic, apple cider and wine vinegars. NOTE: In the U.S. when the terms Vinegar, Cider Vinegar, and Apple Vinegar are on a food label they must be made from apples. (Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Title 21, Sec. 525.825, revised March 1995.) EXPANDING STAGE: Experiment with various brands and mixtures of vinegars

~Melonie (R.O.C.K. leader for NoVa/Metro DC Chapter) & Owner of SillyYaks (www.groups.yahoo.com/group/SillyYaks)

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson__________________________________________________